Comparative Investigation of the Effect of EggshellPowder and Calcium Carbonate as Additivesin Eco-Friendly Polymer Drilling Fluids

Abstract

Drilling fluid systems have seen the addition of new natural additives in recent years in order to replace traditional additives, improve their rheological properties, and ensure the functionality of the drilling fluid taking into account health and environmental factors. This paper aims to study and compare the effect of the addition of eggshell powder (ESP) as a native and local additive and calcium carbonate (CC) as a traditional and conventional additive on the rheological and filtration properties of the drilling fluid system based on Na-bentonite of the region of Meghnia (Algeria). The test results of 10, 20, and 30 g of CCwerecompared to the same concentrations of ESP.The findings showed that the CC with various concentrations (10, 20, and 30 g) increases the rheological properties and the mud density while it reduces the filter cake and the fluid loss values which are desirable, calcium carbonate had aslightly higher effect on the pH. The obtained results following the addition of ESP with different ratios revealed that the latter has a considerable impact on the plastic viscosity, the yield point, the gel strength, and the cake thickness. Additionally, the effect of the presence of eggshell as an additive in pH, fluid loss, and mud density was studied; we observed a slight increase in the pH, while the fluid loss values decreased. However, the mud density values increased. Beyond 20 g of eggshell, the properties of the mud becomeundesirable. Moreover, this study contributes tonewfindings and suggests that the utilization of waste food and local goods in drilling mud mixtures has a bright future respecting the percentages of use.